Bandits!

[Hxc Flavor]

The Suikoden series has reoccuring bandit groups (Varkas/Sydonia at Mt. Tigerwolf, Lampdragon bandits, other "mountain bandits") I'm wondering what exactly it means to be a "bandit" in the Suikoden world. A bandit typically means an outlaw, thief, robber, etc. But in the Suikoden games, a lot of the times bandits become Stars of Destiny. It seems to me bandits would be more of an enemy than an ally since they are known to rob, steal, and kill innocent travellers. Can anyone give some more insight as to what the intentions and practices of groups like the Lampdragon Bandits are?

[Palmguy]

Well, bandits are bandit. You don't need to be a saint to be a Star of Destiny. It's people that decide, for a reason or an other, to help the Tenkai Star. Take Killey for exemple. He just joined for his own selfish interest. Kirk (I think it was kirk) was an executioner. Even assassins are part of the SoD.
So yeah, bandits are usually people that attack other people to steal from them.

[Antimatzist]

Did you read the "Water Margin" novel, the inspiration of Suikoden? To me, the bandits there were always drinking and brutal, but still "heroes".

But the bandits who become SoDs in Suikoden are mostly outlaws, because they are against the system, so they fit quite nicely into the armies.

[Hxc Flavor]

Yes, I realize the novel's characters were known as bandits (some) but I'm just saying that it's hard to imagine robbers and thieves joining the "good guys." You'd think Gustav would've refused to fight alongside people who were robbing travellers from his neighbors.

Again, this is just something I thought was interesting. Maybe the Lampdragon bandits were like Robin Hood - steal from the rich and give to the poor, etc.

[Hirathien]

The thing is, even if the Bandits in Suikoden would be bad, that's nothing compared to the "real" bad guys in Suikoden, you basically you need every willing arm that can wield a weapon to fight the enemy.

[Mise]

A "bandit" is fairly broad. In the circumstance at the time, one could even be skeptical about whether or not Varkas or Sydonia are even bandits. Grady just labeled them as such, as an excuse for not having paid taxes, yes? Odessa later referred to them as just being friends of the liberation army. They may very well have just been hermits, but I've never looked too deeply into it.

[tiki]

We are shown that all Stars of Destiny don't have to be 'good' repeatedly throughout Suikoden 1.

First Ledon poisons your entire party, and would have killed them simply for their traveling money and possessions.
Then Krin further tries to poison your entire party just for their loot.
Kage aids you only for money, and then goes on to aid Highland in the next game for money.

Unlike in other RPGs, your heroes are only heroes to those who fight under the same cause as them. They're not fated to succeed by divine right or chosen by the Gods, they're a melting pot of good people, bad people and simply people under one banner.

[Gen. Dirge]

Being a Bandit is an occupation, and like most occupations, it doesn't really have to tie-in with a person's personality. It's just their way of life. Given the era in the Suikoden world, bandits are sort of endemic, should I say, to areas where they thrive the most. Like far-away villages or rocky mountains. They have different intentions, which make them unpredictable because well, they are their own society. They may or may not mind their own business. They may interfere with another society's structure.

To be a bandit is to be your own man. To survive in society without the hassles of everyday convention.

At least...that's how I perceive it.